The impact of in utero malnutrition on “lost” births and neonatal mortality: Evidence from the 2002 food shortage in Malawi

This study aims to look at the link between in utero malnutrition and the survival probabilities of fetuses and newborns, using the 2002 food shortages in Malawi as an instrument for malnutrition. Concretely, it looks at differences in the probability of a born child being a male and in neonatal mortality between children in utero affected by food scarcity and those born right before and after the food shortages. The obtained results show that there exist a link between intrauterine nutrition and early mortality. Moreover, they suggest that malnutrition may lead to a process of positive selection as early as in utero. Firstly, children are less likely to be males when belonging to food shortage-affected cohorts. Secondly, children affected by food scarcity are less prone to die within their first month of life. Both phenomena suggest that the cohort of children born after having been affected by intrauterine malnutrition represent a positive selection of what the cohort would have been in absence of the nutrition shock. These results have several implications, the most relevant one being that nutritional interventions targeting pregnant women may be a very cost-effective way of enhancing the life paths of many individuals, especially in those countries that are still threatened by food insecurity today

Assessment of an evaluative tool for nursing college students: the tests for Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)

Background: the OSCE test is a tool used to assess the competence of Health Sciences' students in a planned and structured way. It assesses their clinical skills based on simulations, specially designed according to the test objectives. More than 1,800 nursing students took an OSCE test which was implemented in 13 schools of nursing from to 2001 to 2011 in Catalunya. Objective: to assess the efficiency of an OSCE test from the students' and lecturer's point of view. The test has been done over ten years as part of the university nursing training. Materials and methods: a qualitative research method of the Grounded Theory was used. The tools chosen to collect information were a questionnaire with open questions, a focus group with students, and personal interviews with faculty. The method of constant comparisons and the software Atlas-ti were used to analyze the data. Results: professors and students almost unanimously agree about the credibility of the staging and the contents of the situations posed in the test. It is positive that the simulations are carried out in a healthcare environment. However, some students manifest that it bothers them and they feel uncomfortable to act in front of professors who evaluate them. Students and professors agree on rating the content of the OSCE as appropriate in relation to the nurses' role and representative of different areas of nursing practice. In general, the students believe that the difficulty of the test is reasonable. Coinciding with results from other studies [2], students considered that the OSCE test is stressful but a worthwhile experience. Conclusions: the OSCE test has been evaluated as an effective tool to assess skills in nursing students. Previous test information must be improved to decrease the stress generated by the students

Environmental performance of rainwater harvesting strategies in Mediterranean buildings

Purpose: The rapid urbanization and the constant expansion of urban areas during the last decades have locally led to increasing water shortage. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems have the potential to be an important contributor to urban water self-sufficiency. The goal of this study was to select an environmentally optimal RWH strategy in newly constructed residential buildings linked to rainwater demand for laundry under Mediterranean climatic conditions, without accounting for water from the mains. Methods: Different strategies were environmentally assessed for the design and use of RWH infrastructures in residential apartment blocks in Mediterranean climates. The harvested rainwater was used for laundry in all strategies. These strategies accounted for (i) tank location (i.e., tank distributed over the roof and underground tank), (ii) building height considering the number of stories (i.e., 6, 9, 12, and 15), and (iii) distribution strategy (i.e., shared laundry, supply to the nearest apartments, and distribution throughout the building). The RWH systems consisted of the catchment, storage, and distribution stages, and the structural and hydraulic calculations were based on Mediterranean conditions. The quantification of the environmental performance of each strategy (e.g., CO2eq. emissions) was performed in accordance with the life cycle assessment methodology. Results and discussion: According to the environmental assessment, the tank location and distribution strategy chosen were the most important variables in the optimization of RWH systems. Roof tank strategies present fewer impacts than their underground tank equivalents because they enhance energy and material savings, and their reinforcement requirements can be accounted for within the safety factors of the building structure without the tank. Among roof tanks and depending on the height, a distribution strategy that concentrates demand in a laundry room was the preferable option, resulting in reductions from 25 to 54 % in most of the selected impact categories compared to distribution throughout the building. Conclusions: These results may set new urban planning standards for the design and construction of buildings from the perspective of sustainable water management. In this sense, a behavioral change regarding demand should be promoted in compact, dense urban settlements.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Evaluation of a High School Practical Experience on Noise Pollution With Smartphones

This work presents the evaluation of a practical experience on noise pollution based on the use of smartphones to check if it helps students to better understand the concepts related to this phenomenon. This evaluation has been done with a pre-post design in which 112 students, enrolled in the 'Physics and Chemistry' course of the 1st year of non-compulsory high school, have first filled in a diagnostics questionnaire with 5 free response questions about their knowledge on the topic and then a pre-post questionnaire with 4 free response questions. The results show that the proposed practical experience is effective since a statistically significant improvement is obtained both globally and in each of the questions of the questionnaire. The practical experience has also been highly valued by 38 students enrolled in the 'Physics and Chemistry' specialisation of the Master in Secondary Education Teachin

L'aigua al terme de Xert: factors de localització i tipologia d'entitats hídriques

Les nombroses manifestacions hídriques del terme de Xert, aprofiten els recursos subterranis, com sol ocórrer en terrenys calcaris. Les basses, les fonts, els pous, les sénies o els molins exploten els aqüífers cretàcics, tot aprofitant l'alternança d'estrats permeables i impermeables i apareixen sobretot a les litologies calcareomargoses o margocalcàries. Tanmateix, les fonts més cabaloses s'associen als aqüífers juràssics fortament carstificats

Visuospatial and visuoperceptual impairment in relation to global atrophy in Parkinson’s disease*

Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients differed from controls of similar age in visuospatial and visuoperceptual functions at diagnosis moment, and these deficits have been shown to be neuropsychological markers of evolution to dementia. The aim of this study was to relate these dysfunctions with measures of brain. The sample of this study consisted of 92 PD patients and 36 healthy subjects matched by age, sex and education. All subjects were evaluated with Judgment of Line Orientation, Visual Form Discrimination and Facial Recognition Tests and magnetic resonance imaging at 3 Tesla. We found significant differences between patients and controls in all three tests and in the mean of cortical thickness, gray matter volume and ventricular system. All visuospatial and visuoperceptual tests correlated with the measures of global atrophy suggesting that they are reflecting the brain degeneration associated to PD

Community Culture and Progressive Governments. Policies and Social Participation in Argentina and Brazil between 2003 and 2015

Se analizan comparativamente los procesos de participación social en la formulación de políticas culturales en Argentina y Brasil entre 2003 y 2015. Desde una perspectiva interdisciplinaria, se caracterizan las prácticas y se las relaciona con los agentes que las producen y las condiciones en que se las produce. Se plantea que las prácticas se comprenden/explican al relacionarlas con la posición relativa de poder que define a los agentes más que con sus ideas. Se pregunta: ¿Qué características asumen las prácticas de organizaciones de la sociedad civil en Argentina y en Brasil que participaron en la elaboración del proyecto de Ley Federal de Culturas y en la Ley Cultura Viva respectivamente; y en qué medida es posible comprenderlas/explicarlas habida cuenta del lugar social de quienes las producen?Se exponen las implicancias políticas de las diferentes nociones de cultura que impulsaron los gobiernos anteriores a 2003 en ambos países y las que promovieron los del período analizado.Se concluye que la participación de la sociedad civil es condición necesaria para la formulación de políticas culturales basadas en la perspectiva de los derechos humanos. No obstante, la condición suficiente para la elaboración y la implementación de una política es la decisión del gobierno.The processes of social participation in the formulation of cultural policies in Argentina and Brazil between 2003 and 2015 are comparatively analyzed. From an interdisciplinary perspective, practices are characterized and are related to the agents that produce them and the conditions in which they are produced. It is argued that practices are understood/ explained by relating them to the relative position of power that defines agents rather than their ideas. The problem is: What characteristics are taken by the practices of civil society organizations in Argentina and Brazil that participated in the Federal Bill on Cultures and the Law on Cultura Viva, respectively; and to what extent is it possible to understand/ explain them in relation with the social place of those who produce them? The political implications of the different notions of culture promoted by the pre-2003 governments in both countries and those promoted by the administrations during the period analyzed are discussed. It is concluded that the participation of civil society is a necessary condition for the formulation of cultural policies based on the perspective of human rights. However, the government’s decision is the sufficient condition for the development and implementation of a policy.Fil: Prato, Anna Valeria. Universidad Nacional de Cordoba. Facultad de Filosofia y Humanidades. Cent.de Invest. Maria Saleme de Burnichon; ArgentinaFil: Rodrigues Morais, Isa Paula. Universidad Nacional de Cordoba. Facultad de Filosofia y Humanidades. Cent.de Invest. Maria Saleme de Burnichon; ArgentinaFil: Segura, Maria Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Centro de Investigaciones María Saleme Burnichón; Argentin

Impact of measurement timing on reproducibility of testing among haemodialysis patients

Hemodiàlisis; Exercici físic; Test d'activitat físicaHemodiálisis; Ejercicio físico; Test de actividades funcionalesHemodialysis; Exercise; Functional activity testAccurate evaluation of physical function in patients undergoing haemodialysis is crucial in the analysis of the impact of exercise programs in this population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility of several physical functional tests, depending on the timing of their implementation (before the HD session vs. non-HD days). This is a prospective, non-experimental, descriptive study. Thirty patients in haemodialysis were evaluated twice, 1 week apart. The test session was performed before the haemodialysis session started and a retest was performed in non-dialysis day. The testing battery included the short physical performance battery, sit-to-stand tests, 6 min walk test, one-leg stand test, timed up and go, and handgrip strength with and without forearm support. The intra-rater reproducibility was determined by the intraclass correlation coefficients and the agreement was assessed by Bland-Altman analysis. The intraclass correlation coefficients values ranged from 0.86 to 0.96, so that all tests showed good to very good relative reliability. The mean differences between trials of sit to stand 10 and 60, timed up and go and all the handgrip tests were close to zero, indicating no systematic differences between trials. Large range of values between trials was observed for the 6 min walk test, gait speed, one-leg stand test and short physical performance battery, indicating a systematic bias for these four tests. In conclusion, the sit to stand 10 and 60, timed up and go and handgrip tests had good to excellent test-retest reliability in measuring physical function in different dialysis days of patients undertaking haemodialysis. The minimal detectable change values are provided for this population. Bias were found for the 6 min walk test, gait speed, Short physical performance battery or one-leg stand test when the testing day changed